Jacobo Morales (born 12 November 1934) is a Puerto Rican actor, poet, writer, playwright, filmmaker, and

auteur An auteur (; , 'author') is an artist with a distinctive approach, usually a film director whose filmmaking control is so unbounded but personal that the director is likened to the "author" of the film, which thus manifests the director's unique ...

.''Iniciará en Ponce el Festival de la Palabra.''
Sandra Torres Guzmán. La Perla del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. Year 33, Issue 1663. Page 9. 14 October 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2015. Many consider him the most influential film director in Puerto Rico's history.

Early life

Morales was born in the town of

Lajas, Puerto Rico Lajas (, ) is a town and municipality of Puerto Rico located in the Lajas Valley in southwestern Puerto Rico, on the southern coast of the island, bordering the Caribbean Sea, south of San Germán and Sabana Grande; east of Cabo Rojo; and west ...

, to parents of

Sephardic Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), ...

roots.

Career

He started acting in radio and

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actor, actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The p ...

when he was only 14 years old. He began working in television at its inception in 1954, working as an actor, writer and director. Some of his works include ''Desafiando a los Genios'', ''Esto no tiene Nombre'', ''La Tiendita de la Esquina'', among many others. During this time, he also started working with the political satire and comedy group

Los Rayos Gamma Los Rayos Gamma is a Puerto Rican comedy troupe specializing in political satire. The group was founded in the late 1960s and is currently composed of: * Jacobo Morales: actor, writer, director, comedian * Silverio Pérez: musician, comedian, en ...

, together with journalist Eddie López. The group still performs at theaters occasionally, and in the '80s and '90s had several shows on television. In theatre, he has starred in over 30

plays Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

, and he has written and directed five. In the 1970s, he performed in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

productions such as

Woody Allen Heywood "Woody" Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American film director, writer, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades and multiple Academy Award-winning films. He began his career writing ...

's ''

Bananas A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa''. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", distinguis ...

'' and ''

Up the Sandbox ''Up the Sandbox'' is a 1972 American comedy-drama film directed by Irvin Kershner and starring Barbra Streisand. Paul Zindel's screenplay, based on the novel by Anne Roiphe, focuses on Margaret Reynolds, a bored, young wife and mother who ...

'' with

Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers List ...

. His first directing work was the film '' Dios los cría...'' in 1980. The film was an important event in the Puerto Rican film history and received several awards. It was also selected as one of the 25 most significant films of

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

. He followed it with '' Nicolás y los demás'' in which he also had the starring role. For this performance he received the Best Actor Award at the Cartagena de Indias Festival in

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

, 1986. His third film, ''

Lo que le pasó a Santiago ''Lo que le pasó a Santiago'' (; "What Happened to Santiago") is a 1989 Puerto Rican film written and directed by Jacobo Morales. The film tells the story of a recently retired widower who meets a mysterious young lady who disrupts his daily rou ...

'', was nominated for the

Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a ...

in 1990. In 1994, he followed it with '' Linda Sara'' which starred singer

Chayanne Elmer Figueroa Arce (born June 28, 1968), better known under the stage name Chayanne, is a Puerto Rican Latin pop singer and actor. As a solo artist, Chayanne has released 21 albums and sold over 50 million records worldwide, making him one of ...

and former

Miss Universe Miss Universe is an annual international beauty pageant that is run by a United States and Thailand based Miss Universe Organization.Natalie Tadena (July 2, 2015"Donald Trump's Miss USA Pageant Lands on Reelz Cable Channel". ''The Wall Stre ...

Dayanara Torres Dayanara Torres Delgado (born October 28, 1974) is a Puerto Ricans, Puerto Rican actress, singer, model, writer and beauty queen who won Miss Universe 1993. Torres was discovered at age 17 while walking through the Plaza de Toa Alta, Puerto Rico ...

. The film received the Award for Best Artistic Contribution at the Latin American Film Festival from

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into provi ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

; the People's Choice Award at the Mar del Plata Festival in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

; and the Best Script and Best Music Award at the Latin American Film Festival in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. In 2004, Morales directed ''

Dios los cría II Dios may refer to: * ''Dios'', Spanish for God * ''Dios'', a character in the anime/manga series Revolutionary Girl Utena * Desorption ionization on silicon, an ionization technique in mass spectrometry * dios (malos), a rock band from Hawthorn ...

'', the sequel to his first film, broadcast by

WIPR-TV WIPR-TV (channel 6) is a non-commercial educational public television station in San Juan, Puerto Rico, owned by the '' Corporación de Puerto Rico para la Difusión Pública'' (English: Puerto Rico Public Broadcasting Corporation). While WIPR- ...

in Puerto Rico. In 2007, his ''

Angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...

'', a full-length feature film, was released to much critical praise. It was considered for submission for the

80th Academy Awards The 80th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2007. The award ceremony took place on February 24, 2008, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. During t ...

but it lost to '' Maldeamores'' in a voting of the Puerto Rico Film Corporation.

Filmography

Actor

*'' La Criada Malcriada'' (1965), also writer *''

'' (1971), with

*''

'' (1972), with

(played

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (; ; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 200 ...

) *'' Dios los cría'' (1979) *'' Nicolás y los demás'' (1986) *''

'' (1989) *'' Los cuentos de Abelardo'' (1990), 'Peyo Mercé teaches English' segment, based on stories written by Abelardo Díaz Alfaro *'' Linda Sara'' (1994) *''The Effects of Magic'' (1998) *'' Angelito mio (1998) *'' Desandando la Vida'' (2003) *''Dios los cría II'' (2004) *''

Ángel Angel is a given name meaning "angel", " messenger". In the English-speaking world Angel is used for both boys and girls. From the medieval Latin masculine name ''Angelus'', which was derived from the name of the heavenly creature (itself derived ...

'' (2007) *''

Broche de Oro ''Broche de Oro'' is a 2012 Puerto Rican comedy film directed by Raúl Marchand Sánchez, starring Jacobo Morales, Adrián García, Diego de la Texera and Luis Omar O'Farrill. The film became the highest-grossing Puerto Rican film of all time. ...

'' (2012) *''Broche de Oro: Comienzos'' (2017)

Director/Writer

*''Dios los cría'' (1979) *''Nicolás y los demás'' (1986) *''

'' (1989), with

Tommy Muñiz Lucas Tomás Muñiz Ramírez (4 February 1922 – 15 January 2009), better known as Tommy Muñiz, was a Puerto Rico, Puerto Rican comedy and drama actor, media producer, businessman and network owner. He is considered to be one of the pioneerin ...

& Gladys Rodríguez *'' Linda Sara'' (1994), with

*''

'' (2004) *''

'' (2007)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Morales, Jacobo 1934 births Living people People from Lajas, Puerto Rico Puerto Rican comedians Puerto Rican male film actors Puerto Rican male stage actors Puerto Rican radio actors Puerto Rican male television actors Puerto Rican television personalities Puerto Rican film directors